Apparatus for conditioning grain.



0. D. STEPHENS. APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING GRAIN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1907.

934,026 Patented Sept. 14,1909.

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033* CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Application rtlle'l new specification (if hetters laten't. Patented Slept, 3%,:g9fit29,

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.lui Improvements in Apparatus for C011- ditioning Grain, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus'for couditioning and improving the quality of grain by the use of bleaching fumes such as sulfur dioifi-d, and has for its objects; to provide an improved and simplified apparatus for carrying out the operation; to provide an apparatus in which the amount of steam supplied for making the'bleaching fumes cfective is accurately gaged and determined, and may be regulated precisely tosuit the .'condition of the grain to be treated, and finally; to provide an improved apparatus vwhereinall the gases used are appliedto the best advantage. One .form of the apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawing,

wherein The figure is a diagrammatic side eleva: tion partly in cross section, showing the are ran enient of the complete apparatus.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is the bill from which the grain to be treated is sup plied, 2 is the trough or chute leading from the bottom of the in l, 3 is the treatment chamber wherein the mixture of the gases with thegrain to be treated is secured, which treatment chamber is provided with the sets of rods forming gratin s for breaking up the mass of grain as it falls, t is the furnace for supplying sulfur dioxid fumes, 5 is the pipe tor leading the fumes to the treatmcnt chamber 3, 6 is a sprinkler for supplying moisture to the grain as it passes through the chute 2 when necessary, 7 is a pipe for supplying steam under high pressure, which pipe is provided with two gages 8 and 9'and the ressure reducing valve 10,11 is a pipe.

leadlng into the pipe 5 at its up er end and having at-its lower end a-series at cross pipes 12 communicating with the pipe 7, each of which cross pipes is provided with a valve 13. 15 is anputlet door at.the bottom of the treatment chamber-3. 16 a screw couvcyer for carrying away thetreatcd grain, and 17 is a window for inspecting the contents of the chamber. A modified form of apparatus is'shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 373,705. v 3

In operation, grain is admitted to the :itzreatmenti chamber fi-threugh the trough 2, the grain being slightly dampened by means of the sprinkler ti if necessary, and upon reaching the said treatment chamber, passes gradually therethrough, the mass being broken up retarded by the alternate series of cross rods 3' until it reaches the bottom and is discharged through the door 1 3 and can ried'away by the screw conveyor 16. The gradual passage of the grain through the treatment chamber gives opportunity for a thorough bleaching by the sulfur fumes from the furnace 1-, which fumes are mixed with steam in order to make them eficctive in their action upon the grain by means of the steam pipe 11. The apparatus for regulating the quantity of steam supplied, coir .stitutes an important feature or my inventionl Various-kinds and conditions of grain require a greater or less quantity of steam with the sulfur dioxid in order that the best results be secured, and my regulating apparatus is designed to give a variable and known quantity of steam to suit the various requirements imposed by different conditihns of grain to be treated. The pressure reducing valve 10 pcrmitsoit the regulation of the steam pressure in the pipe ll to the right of such valve, which pressure is known by means of the pressure .gage 9, and-the cross pipes with their valves l3provide a. means for regulating the volume oi steam admitted to the pipe 11. provided for regulating not only the pressure of the steam admitted to the pipe 11 and to the treatment tank 3, but also means for regulating the volume of steam, the carrying capacity of each of the small cross pipes 12 being known. In this manner the. exact quantity of steam supplied can be regulated and determined.

Having thus described my invention and .illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the fol lowing 1. In combination, a treatment chamber through which grain is adapted to he passed, a pipe 11 having one end communicating with the treatment chamber, a steam pipe 7, a series of small cross pipes 12 each of which has its opposite ends connected to the sides of the pipes 11 and 7 and each provided with a valve l3,.a pressure reducing valve 10 in of,valve 10, each of the said pipes bein of less capacity than that'of the pipes 7 an 11.

Means are thus 2'. The combination with a treatment diet-e the pressure reducing valve and the chamber through which grain is adepted to cross pipe. be passed, 0f a furnace and pipe for suppiy- In testimony whei'eof I have hereunto mg sulfa! ,dioxid fumes thereto, a eteam signed my name in the presence of the two '5 pipe leading'into the sulfur dioxld pipe, a subscribed witnesses.

second pipe for supplying steam thereto, a I T v plurality of small eross pipes for; connecting CLALDL STILL the two pipes and each provided with adj Witnesses:

valve, a. pressure reducing valve in the sec- PAUL CARPENTER, 10;.ond plpe, and a gage In. such pipe mterme- JAMES N. LORENZ. 

